Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Extinction Rebellion US for January 26th, 2019 Update!

Unfortunately, the US Capitol grounds were closed off in preparation for George H.W. Bush's funeral, so we chose not to interrupt those proceedings to post our demands on the Capitol steps.

The People's Climate Emergency Congress was open to any and all interested participants. This event was meant to be a proof-of-concept to show that the will of the people is crystal clear about what needs to happen on the climate crisis. A more robust and representative People's Congress will be needed to truly convey the wishes of the American people.

When the government inevitably ignores our demands, we will increase the scale and frequency of our disruptions. This is only the beginning!

Read the demands of the Congress below:

I. General

The US Government shall:

• Tell the truth about the climate emergency
• Initiate a World War II-scale mobilization (Green New Deal) to reach carbon neutrality by 2025
• Establish a system of People’s Climate Emergency Congresses to oversee the mobilization
• Rejoin the Paris Accords and exceed all targets
• Begin a Marshall Plan for Earth/Global Green New Deal to help less wealthy countries transition to a green economy

II. Energy

• The government shall contract for the construction of enough solar panels to be installed on every suitable rooftop, as well as over all parking lots
• The government shall contract for construction of wind-powered turbines on all suitable sites, so long as their construction does not infringe on protected natural or tribal lands
• The government shall immediately ban fracking, mountaintop removal, the construction of new pipelines and power plants, and any other projects expanding the use of fossil fuel in America
• The government shall immediately eliminate all subsidies on fossil fuel, and instead institute a carbon tax on all carbon emissions
• The government shall transition entirely to renewable energy by 2025
• The government shall regulate energy access in the public interest, establishing community and cooperative ownership
• All new buildings constructed in the United States shall be carbon neutral
• All existing buildings shall be retrofitted to be carbon neutral at the expense of the government of the United States
• Funding should come from a carbon tax, property assessed clean energy programs, and municipal green banks
• The government shall decommodify energy and make it free to all Americans

III. Transportation

The US Government shall:
• Contract for the construction of enough electric vehicles to replace the entirety of America’s vehicle fleet by 2025
• Contract for the construction of electric vehicle charging stations at the locations of all existing gas stations by 2022
• Ban the production of internal combustion vehicles by 2025
• Ban all short hop air travel (less than 300 miles) by 2025 
• Improve and expand public transportation projects and densify areas around transit stations
• Build a high-speed rail network that provides access to all metropolitan areas with a population greater than 100,000

IV. Agriculture

The US Government shall:
• Immediately eliminate subsidies for large animal factory farming
• Initiate a massive public service announcement campaign to promote less meat consumption and more veganism
• Provide greater support for small-scale farming
• Ban the use of tilling practices
• Eliminate toxic and dangerous pesticides and insecticides to protect pollinators and subsidize organic food and biodiversity 
• Institute a comprehensive composting system to reduce food waste and promote healthy soil
• Enact strict limits on food waste and promote “ugly” fruit and vegetables
• Subsidize programs that promote soil health and insect proliferation
• Establish Young Farmer Programs to decrease lands being converted to development and keep small agriculture growing
• Incentivize local “Victory” garden programs to encourage local food production and capture carbon

V. Labor

• The minimum wage for all workers shall be no less than $15/hour
• Each American shall be guaranteed a basic income
• The work week shall be shortened to less than 40 hours per week
• Every American worker shall be guaranteed employment. Fossil fuel workers who lose their jobs shall be retrained in technical programs funded by the US Government
• Election day shall be made a national holiday that exempts all non-essential employees from attending work
• Workers’ rights to organize and unionize shall be reaffirmed and supported by the Government in all cases
• Workers shall be granted more power over the value of their own labor

VI. Justice

The US government shall:
• Ensure that economic greening benefits all members of society, with especial attention paid to those who have been most harmed by the fossil fuel economy
• Plan for demilitarization to provide funding for the transition to a green economy
• Institute automatic voter registration for all American citizens
• Make reparations for land that has been stolen and/or destroyed by capitalism, colonialism, patriarchy, genocide, and slavery
• Encourage and expand empowerment and leadership of girls and women
• Provide health care for all Americans

VII. Conservation

• The government shall ban all single-use plastics by 2019
• The government shall extend maximal protected status to all American lands not currently inhabited by humans
• The government shall ban the use of all pesticides known to negatively impact animal populations
• The government shall spend whatever monies necessary to aid in the recovery of diminished animal and insect populations
• The government shall clean all superfund sites

VIII. Carbon Capture

• The government shall acknowledge that carbon capture is an essential mitigation tool in the fight to save the climate
• The government shall invest no less than $1 billion per year in 
the study of large-scale Carbon Capture technologies as recommended by a recent 
study authored by the National Science Foundation.
• The government should use its financial and other resources to 
protect natural areas in all parts of the world -- for example, the Amazon -- to
draw carbon out of the atmosphere.
• The government shall provide resources and training for every citizen 
to establish individual and community gardens which will provide produce 
and capture carbon. Such gardens shall promote the growing and 
distribution of local produce, as opposed to produce transported long 
distances.
• The U.S. gov't should immediately take responsibility for its 
historical greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when setting ambitious targets 
for removing emissions from the atmosphere.

Hello US Activists,

Slowly but surely, the Extinction Rebellion US Campaign is getting off the ground! We've gotten a ton of interest from people around the country who want to start their own local chapters. Check out xrebellion.org/xr-us/ to see if a chapter is forming near you.

As some of you have probably seen, the DC XR Chapter held their first Extinction Rebellion event this weekend, blocking the road in front of the US Capitol for two hours and holding a mock "People's Climate Emergency Congress", which passed an impressive slate of demands for the US Government. You can read more about the demands of the Congress and see pictures from the event on the Extinction Rebellion US Facebook Page.

We encourage every Extinction Rebellion chapter to take action as often as they can. Our decentralized structure means that individual chapters are empowered to take whatever action they think is best, as long as they adhere to the demands and principles of Extinction Rebellion.

The first coordinated national US Extinction Rebellion action will take place on Saturday, January 26th. We decided to move the event one week back so that Extinction Rebellion members could participate in the Women's March on January 19th. We are very supportive of the goals of the Women's March; all of our struggles are deeply interwoven.

We are still looking for more part-time or full-time volunteers to help out with the national Extinction Rebellion coordination team. We ask that volunteers be willing to devote at least 20 hours per week to the campaign, but we are open to alternative arrangements if the situation demands it. Please reach out directly to xr@extinctionrebellion.us if you are interested in volunteering.

Thank you all for your commitment so far. The dedicated, upstanding people who are involved now will form the foundation for a massive nationwide movement with the potential to change the course of history!

In Solidarity,

The US National Coordination Team